Writers' Guide Books

This page is collection of writers' guides and how-to books: how to write fiction in general, and erotica in particular. We included several books that aren't really how-tos, however, we feel these books are an excellent resource for inspiration and discussion.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
Pocket (July 1, 2002); ISBN 0743455967

Short and snappy as it is, Stephen King's On Writing really contains two books: a fondly sardonic autobiography and a tough-love lesson for aspiring novelists. The memoir is terrific stuff, a vivid description of how a writer grew out of a misbehaving kid. You're right there with the young author as he's tormented by poison ivy, gas-passing babysitters, uptight schoolmarms, and a laundry job nastier than Jack London's. It's a ripping yarn that casts a sharp light on his fiction. This was a child who dug Yvette Vickers from Attack of the Giant Leeches, not Sandra Dee. "I wanted monsters that ate whole cities, radioactive corpses that came out of the ocean and ate surfers, and girls in black bras who looked like trailer trash." But massive reading on all literary levels was a craving just as crucial, and soon King was the published author of "I Was a Teen-Age Graverobber."

As a young adult raising a family in a trailer, King started a story inspired by his stint as a janitor cleaning a high-school girls locker room. He crumpled it up, but his writer wife retrieved it from the trash, and using her advice about the girl milieu and his own memories of two reviled teenage classmates who died young, he came up with Carrie. King gives us lots of revelations about his life and work. The kidnapper character in Misery, the mind-possessing monsters in The Tommyknockers, and the haunting of the blocked writer in The Shining symbolized his cocaine and booze addiction (overcome thanks to his wife's intervention, which he describes). "There's one novel, Cujo, that I barely remember writing."

King also evokes his college days and his recovery from the van crash that nearly killed him, but the focus is always on what it all means to the craft. He gives you a whole writer's "tool kit": a reading list, writing assignments, a corrected story, and nuts-and-bolts advice on dollars and cents, plot and character, the basic building block of the paragraph, and literary models. He shows what you can learn from H.P. Lovecraft's arcane vocabulary, Hemingway's leanness, Grisham's authenticity, Richard Dooling's artful obscenity, Jonathan Kellerman's sentence fragments. He explains why Hart's War is a great story marred by a tin ear for dialogue, and how Elmore Leonard's Be Cool could be the antidote.

King isn't just a writer, he's a true teacher. —Tim Appelo, Amazon.com
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Man Oh Man! Writing M/M Fiction for Kinks & Cash by Josh Lanyon
MLR Press, March 22, 2008; ISBN-10: 1934531308

So, why this book... Why not one of the other "How to Write..." titles? Because everything in Man, Oh Man is geared to the M/M market and the M/M writer, whether you're an aspiring writer or you're already published. Lambda Award finalist Josh Lanyon takes you step-by-step through the writing process: from how to find fresh ideas and strong hooks, to how to submit your carefully edited manuscript. With help from the genre's top publishers, editors, reviewers, and writers - experts in the field of M/M and gay romantic fiction - Lanyon offers insight and experience in everything from creating believable masculine characters to writing erotic and emotionally gratifying M/M sex scenes. It's within your grasp to be a published author in a growing market. Man, Oh Man shows you exactly how to do it.

Read author Vincent Diamond's in-depth review of Man, Oh Man.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Passionate Ink: A Guide to Writing Erotic Romance by Angela Knight
Loose Id, LLC (April 6, 2007); ISBN-10: 1596323906

The forecast is in: the future of romance is hot and steamy. But riding the wave to success takes more than stringing together a couple of sex scenes or opening the bedroom door on your traditional romance. In her brand-new "how-to", USA Today bestselling author Angela Knight shares the down and dirty details on writing erotic romances that will keep your readers coming back for more. Passionate Ink (un)covers the erotic novel from conception to completion. Straight talk, no purple prose. First, Angela will show you her useful writing techniques that have made her a successful author. Then, she'll teach you what's hard (besides that!) about making your erotic romance erotic: action, both in and out of bed, the anatomy of a sex scene, eroticism and 'kink', and good dialogue, or talking dirty without sounding dumb. If you want to enjoy the heat, then strip off your inhibitions and take a dip.into Passionate Ink.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

The Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers by Elizabeth Benedict
Holt Paperbacks; Revised edition (February 1, 2002); ISBN-10: 0805069933

Twelve years after it was first published, The Joy of Writing Sex remains the classic writers resource on creating compelling sex scenes. Elizabeth Benedict covers all the issues, from the first time, to married sex and adultery, to sex in the age of AIDS.

Her instruction, supported with examples from the works of today's most respected writersamong them, Dorothy Allison, Russell Banks, Alan Hollinghurst, Joyce Carol Oates, Carol Shields, and John Updikefocuses on crafting believable sex scenes that hinge on freshness of character, dialogue, mood, and plot.

In this revised edition, Benedict addresses the latest sexual revolution, intimacy on the Internet; adds new interviews with Edmund White, Darren Strauss, Stephen McCauley, and other writers; and updates her selections to include examples from the best fiction of the past few years.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

How to Write a Dirty Story by Susie Bright
(February 2002) Fireside; ISBN: 0743226232

Review by Lybbe: I started reading this ‘how-to' armed with a pencil and pad. I was ready to take notes as I read, my idea was to keep a list of interesting points and put it all together to somehow find a way to make yet another ‘how to' book interesting.

I kept forgetting to make the notes. This book reads like a novel. You don't want to put it down to make notes or get coffee or answer the phone. Ms. Bright has been there, done that, and she isn't short on generosity when it comes to sharing what she knows. She says she wants to share her knowledge as if you walked into her kitchen and sat up all night discussing every question and investigating every controversy surrounding sexy reading/writing. That's exactly what she does - with such ease that you really do feel like you're sitting across the kitchen table from her. No nonsense - no holds barred.

Writing exercises are not only instructional, but some of them are downright fun. Susie Bright takes you from the first word of your story to the press release party you'll attend once you sign your book deal. She tells you how to look for the perfect editor and how to take the first steps toward publishing your work - big press, small press, internet and self-publishing. How do you deal with sex writer burn-out? How and where do you submit your story? Do you need an agent? Can you really make money writing erotica?

Whether you write for yourself or a lover or a mass audience - this book is a 'must have.'
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

The Burning Pen: Sex Writers on Sex Writing by M. Christian (Editor)
(November 2001) Alyson Pubns; ISBN 1555836151

The Burning Pen is a terrific idea well realized. The book includes twelve essays, each paired with a story, by notable authors who explore their own sexuality and motives for writing erotica. The effect is provocative and enlightening.

Each pair of essay and story reveals much about the writer and the art of writing erotica, and we get terrific examples of literary erotica in variety of persuasions and genres.

For example, Jack Fritscher's essay, "Porno, Ergo Sum: The Incredible Lightness Of Being Male," is pompous, hilarious and smart - so very smart. Authors would do well to listen to what he has to say about the craft of writing erotica, and readers; if you like your gay erotica hot, Fritscher's Wild Blue Yonder is wild indeed.

I enjoyed Burning Pen because it is thoughtful and insightful, because it is somewhat of a who's who, and because it's fun. Yes, surprisingly enough  there's a healthy dose of humor and wit included. And, of course, great smut from great writers.

Featuring essays and stories by top erotica writers Patrick Califia-Rice, Felice Picano, Jack Fritscher, Thomas S. Roche, Carol Queen, Shar Rednour, Cecilia Tan, Laura Antoniou, Lucy Taylor, and Simon Sheppard
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
Writer's Digest Books; (April 1999) ISBN-10: 0898799279

Characters and Viewpoint explains how to create, introduce, and develop vivid characters and reveal them through the different points of view available in long or short fiction.

Review from Louisa Burton (author of House Of Dark Delights):  Orson Scott Card's Character and Viewpoint, while not perfect, is, in my humble opinion, the best book about POV that's out there. He makes it very understandable, and for the most part he avoids the goofy subjective judgments about various viewpoints that plague so many other treatments of the subject. (One of the writing workshops I teach is a master class in POV, so I've read them all, and some of them are just stooopit.)
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King
HarperResource; 2nd edition (April 1, 2004) ISBN: 0060545690

Review by Emma Holly: Another good how-to for dialogue, and other stuff. It covers when to use dialogue tags (he said, she said) versus beats (She picked up her drink and sipped, the tip of her tongue sliding across the edge of the chilled glass.) or neither, and what effect these choices have on your story.

This book also has good stuff like "Show and Tell," "POV," and the always mysterious When Is it a Paragraph? (Note on this: Americans think it's a paragraph a lot sooner than Brits do.)  And my final bit of advice: don't try to read too many how-to's all at once. It is possible to OD!
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
(October 1995) Anchor; ISBN: 0385480016

Recommendation by Tulsa: For all who are interested in books about writing: Ann Lamott's "Bird by Bird" is utter brilliance. She's smart and funny (Yes, revenge is a perfectly good reason to write!) and compacts just about every important writing tip into an unforgettable nugget.

For those who want to write and enjoy a great read along the way, give it as a gift to yourself. (No, this is not a paid announcement, I'm just a fan.)
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg
(November 1998) Shambhala Pubns; ISBN: 1570624240

It's the BEST book I've ever found on writing, and I give out copies to people I know who want to write. It's a "How to" that takes a totally different approach and helps you write better, regardless of your subject matter. Very Zen in its approach..... Buy it....

Wherein we discover that many of the "rules" for good writing and good sex are the same: Keep your hand moving, lose control, and don't think. Goldberg brings a touch of both Zen and well...eroticism to her writing practice, the latter in exercises and anecdotes designed to ease you into your body, your whole spirit, while you create, the former in being where you are, working with what you have, and writing from the moment.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

  E-mail this page

Copyright © 1996 and on, Erotica Readers Association, Inc.
All Rights Reserved World Wide. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or
medium without express written permission is prohibited.